Last weekend on Sunday I got up pretty early and took off to catch some early morning shots of the town. Shooting downtown is probably my favorite place around here, and catching it early on a Sunday morning means you won't have anyone in your way - which is nice. I immediately headed down to Town Lake (or Lady Bird Lake if you are newer to Austin), thinking I would get a skyline shot with the lights reflected in the water. I had been thinking about sunrise before getting there, not really the blue hour. But once I got to this spot and got set up, the darkness was fading and the blue hour was at hand. I think the term "blue hour" is a bit of a misnomer, because it only seems to last a few minutes. Nonetheless, it is a fabulous time of day and this one was remarkable. I am beginning to think that blue hour (morning or evening) is even better than sunset. We had some nice cloud cover that morning and I think it helped diffuse the approaching light and make this scene so beautiful.

This is a 5 exposure (-2 to +2) HDR taken at f/14 and merged in Photomatix, then adjusted in PSE and Aperture.